


promises to keep

by moon_lines



Category: Critical Role (Web Series) RPF
Genre: Conventions, Driving, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Hotels, Kissing, Polyamory, Road Trips, Sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-01-30 06:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21423523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moon_lines/pseuds/moon_lines
Summary: Who needs sleep when there's a convention to get to?
Relationships: Laura Bailey/Ashley Johnson/Marisha Ray
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39
Collections: Femslash Exchange 2019





	promises to keep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alwaystheocean](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwaystheocean/gifts).

> A treat for alwaystheocean!

“Shit, fuck, motherfucking _balls_.”

Marisha looks up from dealing with some last-minute post-production updates on her phone. She and Laura are the only two left at the game table - everyone else headed for their respective homes at least ten minutes ago, keen to take advantage of a Thursday night where the session finished relatively early for once.

“What’s up?” she asks, tentatively. Laura’s glaring at her own phone, looking like she wants to murder something, and Marisha’s not keen to put herself in the line of fire.

“Fucking flight’s cancelled. _All_ the fucking flights. I can’t get anything else until tomorrow afternoon.” Laura jabs at the screen a couple more times and then drops the phone onto the table with obvious disgust. “The panel’s at ten-thirty, and I _promised_ I’d be there. Christi is gonna kill me if she has to do it alone.”

Marisha heaves a sympathetic sigh. They’ve all been there. Tight scheduling and morning con panels are a horrible combination. Laura’s late-night flight was the reason Matt wrapped up tonight’s game when he did - to give her a chance of at least a few hours’ sleep once she got there.

“Hey,” Marisha says after a moment. “I’ll drive you.” She’ll probably regret this decision, but fuck it. She kind of likes overnight driving - it’s weirdly meditative - and she hasn’t had a chance to do any in a while.

Laura’s eyes soften instantly. “Don’t be stupid,” she says. “You need to go home and get some sleep. I’ll drive myself.”

“And be exhausted on the panel tomorrow, and say things you don’t mean, and get a bunch of shitty comments on the internet about it.”

Laura lets out a burst of laughter. “Won’t be the first time.”

“I’m serious, Laura. If I drive, you can sleep in the car, and I’ll sleep in your hotel room when we get there. It’s not like I wasn’t flying out there tomorrow night anyway.” Marisha watches Laura closely - she’s definitely wavering.

“You don’t have your stuff with you.” Laura’s reply is half-hearted now.

Marisha gestures with her phone. “I already texted Matt. He’ll bring it with him tomorrow.” She gets out of her seat and starts picking up her things. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Before Laura can formulate another objection, a blonde head pokes around the corner. “Did I hear we’re going on a road trip?” Ashley grins at them both. “I was still in the lobby and you’re not quiet,” she adds, by way of explanation.

Marisha bounds over and gives her a high-five and a quick peck of a kiss on the lips. “Yes!” She turns back to Laura. “See, Ash and I can split the driving!”

Laura gets to her feet, clearly reluctant still, but her expression has relaxed, just a little. “I _know_ you both had other things to do with this time.” She picks up her bag and follows Marisha and Ashley out through the empty studio. “We’ll split the driving three ways though, ok?” It’s not really a question.

“Like taking watches,” Marisha agrees solemnly, and Ashley laughs.

They take Ashley’s car, because it’s the biggest and has the comfiest seats for napping in, and they make a brief stop to buy some snacks, as well as a coffee for Marisha, who insists on taking the first driving shift. The traffic’s not so bad at this time of night, and they’re out on the highway in very little time, the radio playing with the volume turned down low.

Ashley is staring out of the passenger-side window, the lights of passing cars flashing across her face, and Laura is curled up in the backseat. Marisha glances at her in the mirror, noting the slow rise-and-fall of her chest, the way her face has gone serene and slack. She envies how easily Laura falls asleep - she’d think it was a parent thing, but Laura’s always been able to do it, as long as Marisha has known her, especially in the car.

“We’re not going to wake her until we get there, are we?” she says to Ashley, softly.

Ashley looks back at Laura’s peaceful form, and keeps her voice just as hushed as Marisha’s. “Of course not.” She leans over and presses a kiss to Marisha’s cheek. “Just you and me, we’ve got this.”

Marisha drives until the small hours of the morning, while Laura sleeps, and Ashley switches between napping on and off, and checking email on her phone. They’re all used to making the most of long travel times by now, Ashley in particular. They talk a little, quietly, though Marisha thinks it might take a bomb going off to actually disturb Laura at all.

Around 3am she pulls into a gas station, after an enormous yawn that prompts Ashley to poke her in the ribs. They have a bathroom break and switch places, and Laura mutters a bit when the car doors swing shut.

“Not your turn yet,” Marisha reassures her, and she closes her eyes again, drifting back off almost instantly. The neon lights of the gas station through the car windows throw Laura’s face into sharp relief, like she should be on the cover of some melodramatic concept album, and Marisha can’t help but reach back to brush her fingertip, light as a feather, along the line of Laura’s cheekbone.

Marisha doesn’t often sleep well when she’s traveling. She gets out her laptop and works on a bit she’s been writing, taking advantage of the lack of distracting cell phone signal in the long gaps between towns. In the driver’s seat, Ashley hums along to the radio under her breath.

The sun has long since risen by the time they arrive in the hotel parking lot, and Laura finally wakes when Ashley turns the engine off.

“You _assholes_,” is the first thing Laura says, as she takes in her surroundings, still blinking sleep from her eyes.

Marisha catches Ashley’s eye and grins. “Come on,” she says to Laura. “Let’s get you checked in and find out what bullshit passes for caffeine around here.”

The process goes quickly this early in the day, and they’re all three soon ensconced in the room Laura was meant to have had from the night before. Marisha has long since come out the other side of tired, into the sadly familiar place where everything seems slightly too sharp and shiny, and she knows she’s talking a million miles a minute as they help Laura get ready for her panel.

There is coffee, thank god, and it’s not as awful as it could be.

Standing in the middle of the hotel room, in a beautiful dress and boots, with her makeup freshly applied, Laura looks stunning, and not at all like she slept in a car all night. It’s extremely impressive, and Marisha takes her time looking her over appreciatively, while Laura checks her hair in the mirror.

“Am I good?” Laura asks, finally, turning to look at them both where they’ve perched on the end of the bed, Marisha with her feet drawn up under her.

By way of reply, Ashley gets up, walks over to Laura, and captures her mouth for a long, leisurely kiss, pulling her body in close, her hands roaming across Laura’s ass. Marisha watches them, feels her own breath catch in her throat when Laura makes a little pleased noise into Ashley’s mouth.

By the time Laura breaks the kiss, Marisha is standing next to her. She leans in, while Laura is still held in Ashley’s arms, and wipes her finger across Laura’s lips, tidying up her newly smudged lipstick. “You sure you wouldn’t rather stay here with us?” she asks, grinning, fighting the near overwhelming urge to take her own turn kissing Laura breathless.

Laura smiles, a soft, private smile that only a few people are lucky enough to ever see. “You did bring me all this way,” she says, and gives Marisha’s cheek a tiny kiss. “I’ll have to find a way to thank you later.” She steps back, disentangling herself from them both, and looks at her phone. “Shit, gotta go.” She’s on her way out in a trice, blowing them each another kiss over her shoulder as she goes.

As the door shuts behind her, Ashley takes advantage of their proximity and grabs Marisha by the waist, tugging her into the space Laura so recently vacated. She kisses Marisha with lips slightly stained with Laura’s lipstick, tasting faintly of coffee and something sugary sweet. 

“So,” Ashley says after a moment. “We have this pretty fucking great room, and this massive bed, and nothing we’re meant to be doing until tomorrow morning.” She gives Marisha’s hip a gentle squeeze and raises one eyebrow. “What do you want to do with that?”

“I could probably come up with a couple of things,” Marisha tells her, as a huge yawn overtakes her. “But first…”

Ashley smirks. “I bet you I’ll be asleep before you are.”

“Oh, you will, will you?” Marisha slips out of Ashley’s grip, quick as a cat, and launches herself into the middle of the bed. She pulls off the leggings she wore to drive and slides under the covers in her t-shirt and panties as Ashley goes to tug the curtains closed and then follows her, shucking her own outer clothes at astonishing speed.

Marisha tucks herself into the warmth of Ashley’s arms, surrounded by soft, cosy pillows and sheets. She places a couple of fluttering kisses at the corner of Ashley’s mouth and along the curve of her jaw. “We did good,” she murmurs, stifling another yawn. “Worth it.”

“Definitely worth it,” Ashley agrees, tracing a lazy pattern over Marisha’s stomach with her fingers.

They never figure out who wins the bet - they’re both sound asleep within minutes.

Marisha wakes an indeterminate amount of time later, when Laura slides into bed behind her. She enjoys a moment sandwiched pleasantly between Laura and the still-sleeping Ashley, and then realises that Laura is completely, gloriously naked.

“Hey,” Laura whispers, and kisses the side of Marisha’s neck, making her shiver a little. “Want your reward now?”

Later the rest of the cast will arrive, and tomorrow all three of them have a thousand things on their schedules, but for now, they have a hotel room, and some empty hours, and each other. Marisha grins and turns to give Laura a deep, hungry kiss.

This is going to be fun.


End file.
